Caradeuc 1.
De Caradeuc is without value in this climate for its fruit and is described at length and illustrated in The Plums of New York only because it is one of the few representatives of Prunus cerasifera cultivated for its fruit. The plums are garnet-red, very attractive in appearance and are borne so much earlier than those of other species that the variety may be worth planting in home orchards to lengthen the season and for the sake of variety. This plum is grown rather commonly in the South where the fruits are said to keep well and not rot. The trees are handsome ornamentals bearing remarkably rich, green foliage and a profusion of white flowers which are followed by beautifully colored fruits. The variety can be recommended for lawn or park where a small, compact, flowering tree is wanted.
De Caradeuc originated with A. De Caradeuc, Aiken, South Carolina, between 1850 and 1854. Mr. De Caradeuc brought plum trees from France and planted them in the vicinity of several native plum trees. From the seed of the former he produced this variety. The originator believed his new plum to be a hybrid but practically all students of plum botany think that it is a pure offshoot of Prunus cerasifera. The variety was introduced by P. J. Berckmans of Augusta, Georgia. In 1877 De Caradeuc was placed on the American Pomological Society fruit catalog list where it is still maintained.
Tree very large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, variable in productiveness; trunk rough; branches slender, roughish or smooth, dark ash-gray, with numerous, large, raised lenticels; branchlets very numerous, twiggy, slender, medium to long, with long internodes, tinged with red when young, changing to dull reddish-brown, glossy, glabrous, with few, small lenticels; leaf-buds very small and short, obtuse, appressed.
Leaves numerous on the branchlets, becoming scattering in the interior of the tree, folded upward, oval, one and one-eighth inches wide, two inches long, thin; upper surface dark green, sparingly pubescent, smooth, with broadly grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, pubescent; apex acute, base broadly cuneate, margin often in two series of fine serrations, without glands; petiole slender, one-half inch long, slightly pubescent, tinged red, eglandular or with one or two very small, globose, greenish glands usually at the base of the leaf.
Blooming season rather early, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, seven-eighths inch across, white; borne on lateral buds and spurs; pedicels eleven-sixteenths inch long, below medium in thickness, glabrous, green; calyx-tube reddish, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, slightly glandular-serrate, pubescent, strongly reflexed; petals roundish or ovate, crenate, not clawed; anthers yellow; filaments one-quarter inch in length; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens, somewhat defective.
Fruit very early, season short; one and one-quarter inches in diameter, roundish, halves usually equal; cavity shallow and narrow, abrupt, regular; suture a dark red line; apex roundish; color light or dark crimson-red over a yellow ground, overspread with thin bloom; dots few, light russet, clustered about the apex; stem slender, eleven-sixteenths inch in length, glabrous, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, parting readily; flesh medium yellow, very juicy, fibrous, tender and melting, slightly sweet, lacking in flavor; inferior in quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, roundish-oval, turgid, blunt, with somewhat pitted surfaces; ventral suture acute, furrowed; dorsal suture distinctly and broadly grooved.
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